What next ?

Democracy and its “politics” have won the day. The deadlock has been broken through a political decision to accommodate each other.The lawyers are overjoyed and deserve their moment in the sun because of the way they have steadily carried the standard of their principled cause for over two years.

Meanwhile, we have to face the question of “what next”. That means letting go of the rhetoric that the restoration of the judges in the higher judiciary will lead to justice in the country. The focus now should be on structural change in the entire judiciary, reaching down to the district level. The magistracy has to be merit-based, better remunerated, and defended against all sorts of pressures. This is particularly important because the former PMLQ government had failed to complete this reform despite the considerable financial assistance provided it by the Asian Development Bank. That is the only way “justice” will be “restored”.

Life after the Long March will hopefully see restoration of the economy that was severely damaged by the political instability radiating from the campaign. Once the result of the review petition has brought about a further thawing of the situation, it will be time to take a serious look at the problem of terrorism and the battle against it that we are not winning.